Shampoo is like other soaps - it is used to kill some pests but it won't harm the garden. We're not talking about pouring an industrial barrel onto the garden, we're talking about 3T per gallon of water spread over many square feet. Enough to help loosen the soil.

Newsprint over here has changed a great deal, the ink is soy based, and I've heard no complaints about putting this in the garden from the organic folks. Perhaps your ink is different, or the change was so gradual you didn't notice?

Carpet in the garden is always hideous, because most of the carpet people use is nasty stuff. Solarizing the bed with plastic is a temporary thing and the plastic shouldn't be left on the ground once the weeds below are dead.

Vegetable gardening isn't a pretty activity necessarily, except in the beginning when plants are still small and the weeds are still absent. Over the course of the summer my garden becomes a jungle - but it is a jungle the neighbors don't object to (though it is in the front yard) because I give my neighbors vegetables. You may not want to plant as many things in a raised planter as I put in my garden, but I think you'll find if people can participate and enjoy the produce, they're not going to be too worried if the veggies grow out of bounds by the end of the season.

SRS